OT - Chainsaw makes me nervous

northvale-PA · Dec 22, 2012

I was cutting fire wood today, burn about 5 cords a year. Been doing so since high school. My 16 year old daughter wanted to try her hand at it. Boy did that saw make me nervous watching.

Royse · Dec 22, 2012

My dad started me with a small saw, trimming brush and cutting
small limbs that would drop and not bind.
I think he was nervous too.
Good to hear it's a family outing!
Safe sawing.

onefarmer · Dec 22, 2012

I don't think my dad watched me. I just went and did it. But then that is how I learned many things. Just do it.

John B. · Dec 22, 2012

Being nervous is a good sign of a caring parent!!

Dieselbreath · Dec 22, 2012

Ha! I have a 32 yr old daughter that loves to cut wood. Believe me, the worry doesn't go away as they age.

Janicholson · Dec 22, 2012

Teaching about pinched limbs, Tip kickback, Getting it in dirty wood, and a proper stance. makes safety happen. A sharp saw with a size that is appropriate, and a clear work area is a great start.
Assuming it has a chain brake, and she is wearing stout shoes and jeans. Jim

gtractorfan · Dec 22, 2012

Feel fortunate your daughter WANTS to help. She must be a good one!

tomturkey · Dec 22, 2012

You know that nervous reaction can go the other way. For example, my daughter told her mother to tell me, Be careful when you get out of the car, its icey. Wife always wants to know where I'll be cutting, or fishing. My finest was my son when ask by a friend why he was'nt helping me build my pole bldg. Son said "He knows what he's doing. gobble

casenut1 · Dec 22, 2012

Jeans mean nothing.have an old saw , no chain brake. chain was rolling and cut threw the jeans into my leg so fast i never saw it coming.luckily for me it was just some skin and fatty tissue because of fast reflexes.

Wesley Stephens · Dec 22, 2012

I remember being nervous the first time I ran a saw. I was by myself but got comfortable with it pretty quick. I was cutting brush with a Sachs Dolmar 120 Super with a large bow. (I know they are not PC anymore but for certain tasks, I prefer a bow. As long as you operate the saw safely, they are fine.)

bill mart · Dec 22, 2012

I have seen a bow saw in pictures before but what are they used for? Bill

Janicholson · Dec 22, 2012

I agree that the jeans do not protect from the chain, they do however provide an edge of comfort when chips fly. Dressing to keep from direct saw or chain encounters would be near impossible. Dressing for the task is reasonable. Thin cotton slacks, or tight cloths do not make a good outfit for cutting wood. Jim

JerryS · Dec 22, 2012

I too was very nervous the first time I used a chain saw. But I had a lot of work to do to clear my land, so I stuck with it. Finally I got comfortable with it and not afraid of it anymore. That's when I sawed a four-inch gash in my left knee.

37chief · Dec 23, 2012

Way to go teach them early. My chain saw is treated with more respect since I sliced one of my fingers open donig something stupid. Makes no difference because she is a girl she can still operate it safely. Just teach her the prpoer way to operate the saw. Stan

RalphWD45 · Dec 23, 2012

I have been using a chainsaw off and on, since 1960, and have never hurt myself. HOWEVER after returning from a camping trip, with the wife, and grand daughters, where I took the saw along for firewood, I found about a 4" cut in my jeans, that I never knew happened. Now how close is that to being hurt? Just can't be careless!

James Howell · Dec 23, 2012

Had a bow chain bar on my old McCormick 805.

Made it easier to cut large trees without "pinching" the chain.

Very popular with folks cutting pulp wood.

Stephen Newell · Dec 23, 2012

It doesn't get any better. My son started using my chainsaw at about age 16 and I could barely stand it teaching him how to use it. Now he's 27 and I still can't stand to watch him use it.

MarkB_MI · Dec 23, 2012

Consider buying Kevlar chaps for both of you.

RBnSC · Dec 23, 2012

My Dad was never afraid of them. He grabbed up a medium sized bow saw our Uncle had given us(because he was scared of it)and went to the far side of a big oak tree we had just cut down to start cutting the limbs off. My Brothers and I tried to talk him out of it but He would not listen. He was gone for about five minutes and came walking back without the saw and holding his arm above his elbow. We all stopped and he says "I guess one of you needs to take Me to the emergency room". I think it took about ten stitches. They make a nasty raggedy cut in flesh.
Ron

chevytaHOE5674 · Dec 23, 2012

Get a of pairs of chaps for each of you to wear while sawing. They will help stop serious injury to the legs WHEN the saw DOES hit you. Trust me even the best most experienced, most cautious chainsaw operators eventually get "bit" by the saw..... I'm a forester/logger and have seen what can happen first hand from just a bump to the leg and it isn't pretty.

The 100 dollars spent on safety chaps are much cheaper than an ER visit....

Erik Ks farmer · Dec 23, 2012

My wife was helping cut wood a couple weeks ago and she has been trying to get me convinced that she can run the saw. I have an MS310 sthil with an 18" bar which is a fairly heavy saw, after 2 cuts she decided that maybe I wasn't getting the easy job after all. That suits me fine, it made me nervous watching her as well.

Nebraska Cowman · Dec 23, 2012

Dad and I bought a new Homelite XL automatic when I was 14. After that I did most of the cutting and he did the skidding. I wish I still had that saw but somebody stole it out of the yard after the tornado in 85. I still have dad's Titan 40 though.

Bret4207 · Dec 23, 2012

Get her a helmet with face screen and ear muffs, chainsaw boots, chaps and gloves. Teach her to keep her left arm locked and be grateful you have a 16 year old that's wants to help with ANYTHING!

Adirondack case guy · Dec 23, 2012

Chainsaws don't bother me, but the Buzz Saw that we had mounted on the front of a Case SC tractor sure was scarry. We used to bring out all the limb wood out in pole lengths to the Sap house and cut them into 3' lengths for the evaporators.
Once in a while a limb would pinch and things would fly. We also sharpened ceder fence posts with it in the spring, and once in a while it would rip a post right out of your hand.
Loren, the Acg.

Billy NY · Dec 23, 2012

You are right, in late '09, well 3 years to Dec 15th, while framing in, setting trusses on the large portion of one of our barns that suffered a snow collapse the previous late winter, no ladder near me, so I climbed down hugging the wall and believe it or not, I clung a little too hard, as I tried to imitate spider man, LOL, I somehow caught a 1/2" diameter stall latch with a blunt end, sliding hardware, deadbolt like thing commonly used for sliding horse stall doors. It did not catch in the sense I was hung on it, but it literally tore a trench into my inner calf, I've got photos. Went to my second job bandaged up, imperative I get 35 yards of sawdust or lose the load, stuff is like gold here now. After that, I went to the ER and had some quality time with the doctor, the nurse just looked at it and said you really ought to get some safety chaps, so and so, (actually my neighbor's saw shop)will hook you right up, it was male nurse who had a hobby of doing firewood, knew the saw shop etc., I could not convince him this was not a chainsaw laceration, wide jagged cut, took forever to numb prior to stitching. He must have seen flesh cut by a chainsaw before.

rrlund · Dec 23, 2012

Kinda like the old saying,"makes me as nervous as watching an amature chainsaw juggler".

Zachary Hoyt · Dec 23, 2012

I started around that age. Had a helpful friend who showed me the important safety things like keeping my thumb around the top bar, left arm locked, kickback etc. I had to cut 17 standard cords of firewood a year out of the woods and was the only person to do it so there was no alternative to the chain saw. I have been using a saw a lot for 10 years now and have never worn chaps, I don't even know if they make them in my size. I know a fellow who does wear chaps and they are all full of cuts, so I guess I would rather learn to be careful than think that something is going to keep me safe if I am careless.
Zach

chevytaHOE5674 · Dec 23, 2012

(quoted from post at 08:10:51 12/23/12)I have been using a saw a lot for 10 years now and have never worn chaps, I don't even know if they make them in my size. I know a fellow who does wear chaps and they are all full of cuts, so I guess I would rather learn to be careful than think that something is going to keep me safe if I am careless.
Zach

They DO make chaps in your size. Labonville as well as others sell them in extra long and also belt extensions for larger folks.

Just because you wear chaps doesn't mean you have to be reckless. I know guys that have been using saws 4x longer than you 5 days a week 8 hours a day and are careful as heck and all it takes is one slip of your foot or springy branch to knock that saw into your leg etc. Being careful is great but accidents happen to everybody...

Like I said 100 bucks for chaps is way cheap than even a stitch job at the ER let alone something more major.

Cienna · Dec 23, 2012

Loren---Possibly what makes the blade "pinch" in the kerf of the log is that there is too much distance between the blade and the supporting table on each side. On my tilt-table, the distance is no more than 3/4" from the blade to the table on each side. I can cut very small diameter pieces without the piece "flipping". Of course, a sharp blade is very helpful too.

ss55 · Dec 23, 2012

I try to have helpers start out with a hand "razor" saw and a pole saw to teach the basics and the importance of working safely. If they have troubles with a hand saw they are not ready for a chainsaw yet.

ihredo4 · Dec 23, 2012

I won't touch the damned things. An old friend of my dads was using one when it kicked back on him. He knew better but was nosing the saw in when it caught and jumped. Lets just say it missed his shoulder but as he yanked it back forward he took his ear off. I ended up on that bloody mess the day after and it was not a pretty sight. Chainsaws ended for me right there. I will pay someone to do the work before I will.

Dr. Walt · Dec 25, 2012

When I was 16 years old I learned the importance of chaps & steel shin guards - THE HARD WAY. I was cutting firewood with a big, old Mc Cullough chain saw when the blade hit a hard spot and kicked back, hitting me in the middle of my right shin. I still 50 years later have a notch in my right shin bone.

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